Juran's lectures to Japanese executives in 1954: A perspective and some contemporary lessons

In 1954, at the invitation of the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers, Joseph M. Juran gave a series of lectures on quality management to senior executives and middle managers of Japanese industry. These lectures, together with those given by W. Edwards Deming in 1950, have been credited with being seminal contributions to the Japanese quality control movement. Focusing on the lectures to senior executives, this article examines Juran's own annotated manuscripts of his 1954 lecture notes in order to identify the actual content of the lectures and assess their impact at the time, as well as their contemporary relevance. They contain a remarkably comprehensive and modern view of quality management, which supports the contention of Japanese industry leaders and quality experts that Juran's lectures had a strong and enduring impact in Japan.